House fire forces closure of Ashlan in Tarpey Village

A two-alarm fire broke out in Tarpey Village on Friday night, knocking out power for a city block and forcing the closure of Ashlan Avenue, said Mike Bowman, Fresno County fire battalion chief.

Several 911 calls came in around 8:30 p.m. about a house fire on Hampton Way near Dewitt Avenue.

A section of Ashlan between Minnewawa and Clovis avenues was closed in both directions so that firefighters could access the back end of the house.

“We had 100-foot flames and direct fire on all four corners of the property,” Bowman said. “We had a hard time getting our hoses in place due to the power lines and part of the building coming down.”

The fire was in a 2,000-square-foot, two-story house on the rear of the property. No one was in the house at the time of the fire.

A couple of walls came loose, which slowed the investigation; Bowman said investigators will be able to get inside once the walls are made more sturdy.

At least 25 firefighters from Fresno City, Clovis and Fresno County were working to put out the blaze.

There were no injuries reported. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

This story was originally published September 25, 2015 at 11:30 PM with the headline "House fire forces closure of Ashlan in Tarpey Village."